AP National News

BERLIN (AP) — An annual festival on a German North Sea island that had drawn criticism because of a practice of men hitting women with cow’s horns has passed without reports of assaults this year. The Klaasohm festival on Borkum, the westernmost of a string of German islands, takes place on Dec. 5 ahead of

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen is set to become a father for the first time with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet, he said Friday. There’s racing heritage on both sides of the family. Verstappen secured his fourth F1 title in Las Vegas last month, and Kelly’s father Nelson Piquet

PRAGUE (AP) — Oil delivery to the Czech Republic from Russia through the Druhzba pipeline has resumed after it was interrupted two days ago, official said. It is still not clear why the delivery was halted on Wednesday morning. The Orlen Unipetrol refiner said its operations have not been affected. The Czech Republic, Slovakia and

Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs, the country’s third largest, as insurgents seized two towns on the outskirts Friday, positioning themselves for an assault on a potentially major prize in their march against President Bashar Assad. The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war

Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A jailed Hong Kong activist has lost his landmark legal challenge against the prison authorities’ refusal to grant him early release under the new national security law. Ma Chun-man was serving a five-year term for inciting secession under a separate, Beijing-imposed national security law. He was convicted in 2021

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has called on China to “open its arms rather than raise its fists” as he wraps up his first overseas tour since taking office in May. His remarks at a news conference Friday in Palau came in response to widespread speculation that China will hold military drills

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat says in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Moscow doesn’t want a war with the United States but will use “all means” to defend its interests. Sergey Lavrov argued in the interview that was released Friday that while Russia and the U.S. are officially not

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China has banned exports of key materials used for a wide range of products, including smartphones, electric vehicles, radar systems and CT scanners, swiping back at Washington after it expanded export controls to include dozens of Chinese companies that make equipment used to produce computer chips. Both sides say

Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United States has deployed a reconnaissance aircraft while Japan and the Philippines sent navy ships in a joint patrol in the disputed South China Sea two days after the allied forces condemned actions by Chinese coast guard vessels against Philippine patrol ships. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the

Associated Press MILAN (AP) — American tenor Brian Jagde was just wrapping up Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” in Barcelona last month when he got a very much last-minute offer to sing the same role in La Scala’s gala season premiere this Saturday, arguably the opera world’s most prestigious gig. Jagde’s appearance as Don Alvaro

Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The 12-year-old Palestinian boy was lying in a hospital bed in central Gaza, wracked with leukemia, malnourished and whimpering in pain despite the morphine doctors were giving him, when Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official, said she saw him in late October. Islam al-Rayahen’s family had asked Israeli

Associated Press TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgian authorities are responding to ongoing protests fueled by the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union with increasing force. Examples of police brutality are everywhere. An opposition leader was dragged into a police car and arrested. Georgian journalist Guram Rogava was doing a live

Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Iran is poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium as it has started cascades of advanced centrifuges, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Friday. The comments from Rafael Mariano Grossi came just hours after Iran said it conducted a successful space launch

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer likely left New York City on a bus soon after the brazen ambush that has shaken corporate America, police officials said Friday. But he left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Three days

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records Friday after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed

Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Valerie Starkey was driving through Northern California to visit relatives when she suddenly felt shaking and feared her car had broken down, only to realize later that it was an earthquake so powerful that it triggered a tsunami warning for hundreds of miles of the U.S. West Coast. The

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The reopening this weekend of Notre Dame is a succession of ceremonies to breathe life back into the iconic cathedral and celebrate the recovery from its devastating fire in 2019. High points will be the ceremonial reopening of the cathedral’s massive doors, the reawakening of its thunderous organ and the

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — He’s one of the most famous corporate leaders in the world, delivering products embraced by billions. But it’s the haters that companies like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta worry about. In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year